Pollsters predict significant gender gap in election results
WASHINGTON (SBG) — Whether they vote by mail or in person, women will play a decisive role in the presidential election.
Though women are not a monolith, and like any voter, make decisions for reasons based on things other than their gender, more women historically vote for Democrats than Republicans in presidential elections, according to University of Massachusetts Lowell Associate Professor Dr. Joshua Dyck.
This is often referred to as a voting "gender gap."
Polls show most women have already decided who they'll vote for in the presidential election.
According to a September poll from advocacy group All In Together, Lake Research and Emerson College Polling, only 4% of suburban women and women in battleground states were undecided. Among independent women, 13% were undecided.
In each of these groups, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden led President Donald Trump by at least 13%.
According to Dyck, the gender gap has more to do with how men have changed their political affiliation over time rather than women, the majority of whom have always aligned with the Democratic party.
"You can date it back further, but Reagan moved this country to the right and that movement that happened in the 1980s played better with men," Dyck said.
Rutgers University Center for American Women and Politics tracks all major polls and found Biden has a double-digit lead over Trump.
The president has said repeatedly that suburban women will vote for him because he will maintain law and order in their communities, but 55% of suburban women support Biden and trust Biden 11% more than Trump on maintaining law and order, according to the All In Together poll.
Former Trump White House aide and president of Moms for Safer Neighborhoods Jessica Anderson will be voting for her former boss, who she said "has been very clear of his support for law enforcement, quelling the violence, restoring law and order to our neighborhoods.”
Messages like Trump's on what some consider "women's issues" aren't the first to fail to sway women voters.
"Often people think, ‘Well you know if I play on ‘women’s issues’ that that will somehow sway the election and it largely doesn’t work," Dyck said.
Christian Nunes is the president of National Organization for Women, which has endorsed Biden. She cites his platform on issues beyond "women's issues" as reason for the organization's endorsement.
“He has really put forth a lot of things in his comprehensive agenda for women that really talks to speaking about equality for women and particularly women of color," Nunes said.
According to Dyck, women vote at a higher rate than men and the gender gap has widened in recent presidential elections.
